This new version of a downhole pump is designed to solve the problem of traditional downhole pumps having rigid rings. Producing oil wells are known for the problems associated with downhole pumps.
Downhole pumps in the prior art have always been inefficient because of the types of mandrels and rings used. Traditionally, most pumps use "rag" rings because they have been the most dependable to date, however some downhole pumps do use synthetic rings. In these present applications, the downhole pumps require extra long mandrels with extra rings to help create enough friction against the interior surface of the working barrel to lift fluid to the top of the well. The pump rings are rigid, therefore, when the rings become grooved or worn, they become ineffective. Workers, known in the oil fields as pulling unit crews, work with special motorized units, called pulling units, to remove worn pumps from the well and replace them with a new one. This procedure can require hours and even days before the pumping unit can being to pump oil again. It is not unusual for a newly installed pump to work only a few days before the pulling operation has to be repeated.
Over a dozen inventions have attempted to solve this problem, dating back to Lewis in 1882, J. S. Thompson 1889, Kammerer 1912, Rhoder 1976, and Carrens 1982. R. L. Chenault, in 1942, invented a filter to try and keep sand out of the pumps.
Oil wells have a number of components and mechanisms that are utilized in the process of pumping oil to the surface. When the well is drilled, there is a series of pipes used. (1) The surface pipe is the largest, being ten to thirteen inches in diameter, and is only inserted a few hundred feet into the earth. (2) A long string of pipe, called the oil string, is inside the surface pipe and reaches down into the oil pay where it is cemented into place. A perforated section of pipe in the bottom lets the fluid into the long string. (3) Tubing is installed inside the oil string, and encases the sucker rods and the pump. (4) A pumping unit on the surface is connected to the sucker rods and reciprocates the pump to move oil through the tubing to the surface.
Because the pump is installed in the bottom of the well, sometimes thousands of feet below the surface, it becomes very costly to replace the pump. Therefore, any new, better, or more efficient pump would be well received by the producers of oil. It is anticipated that my new and improved downhole pump will fulfill these expectations.